Good Morning & Happy October!
The weather lately has been so gorgeous! It’s been sunny for what seems like weeks on end, and I hope you have all been enjoying it!
I’m back today with some food reviews! Since we are in the midst of the gorgeous season of Fall, I decided to go with seasonal themed foods for this edition of food reviews.
It seems like every year there are more and more pumpkin spiced foods, so I had a lot to choose from! I started with four items to review but then I tried a few more, so today I have 7 items I’m reviewing!
So let’s get into it!
1. Maple Creme Oreos
You know, Nabisco NEVER stops with the new flavors of Oreos. Most of them are pretty good, so I have to hand it to them for continually turning out hit after hit! I picked up the latest seasonally appropriate flavor, maple, a few weeks ago.
Now that I’ve eaten several of these cookies, I think they are good, but thought I would enjoy them more. The only part that is actually maple flavored is the creme filling and I found it to be a little too sweet for me to really enjoy. The cookie is just their golden, vanilla based cookie, with no maple flavoring.
I think these would be much better if the cookie and filling were both a mild maple flavor. It seems like they really amped up the maple flavoring in the creme to overcompensate for the lack of flavor in the cookie and result is an overly artificially sweet maple taste.
Verdict: Good to try for a seasonal treat, but I wouldn’t buy again. Those little maple leaf shaped sandwiches cookies with creme filling are better!
2. Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Mix
I don’t live near a Trader Joe’s, but my mom does. I recently went up to visit her and made my way over to TJ’s to check out their latest offerings. They always have a great assortment of pumpkin flavored goodies, so I scooped up this pumpkin cookie mix.
I really, really wanted to love these cookies, but I really can’t give them a positive review because I didn’t like them. I love pumpkin chocolate chip cookies like the ones I blogged about last year, so I thought these would be great and that the oatmeal would be a welcoming addition.
The oatmeal didn’t bother me in these cookies, but what did was the strong use of spices. I sampled the cookie dough before I baked the cookies, and I thought I tasted too much all-spice and something else that I couldn’t quite place. I put them in the oven with the hope that baking them would make the flavors coexist for the better.
I’m sad to say that baking only helped slightly. The all-spice and (after consulting the ingredient list), cloves(!!) overpower these cookies in a bad way. I have no idea why they would add cloves? Maybe a touch of all-spice I could see, but CLOVES?! No, thank you. All I could think of was that cloves should only be used when baking a ham, not when baking cookies. It’s almost like they were going for a chocolate chip oatmeal gingersnap cookie, but it just did not work.
Verdict: Do yourself a favor and don’t waste your time or money on these. Unless you LOVE all-spice and cloves in cookies, these are not going to make you happy.
3. Archer Farms Pumpkin Spice Almonds
Archer Farms is one of Target’s grocery brands and they offer a small variety seasonal food items. I wasn’t going to get these pumpkin spice almonds, but my daughter insisted (I think because they looked like orange candy) and I was in a rush to get out of the store so I just threw them in the cart.
I love chocolate covered almonds, but I wasn’t sure I would really like pumpkin spice ones. Upon the initial first bite I wasn’t quite sold on the flavor, but a few almonds later I was singing their praises! These are really quite tasty; I think it helps that they have a white chocolate coating! The only weird thing is that every time I eat these the first almond doesn’t taste great – it’s like my taste buds need a moment to adjust. Then the second one tastes better and after that I’m reaching for a few more!
What I like about chocolate covered almonds is that you only need a few to satisfy your sweet tooth and that’s the case with these as well. A handful is about all I need each afternoon to quell my chocolate craving!
Verdict: If you already like almonds and especially chocolate covered ones, then I think you will enjoy the seasonal twist on these!
4. Trader Joe’s Candy Corn Popcorn
One of my favorite seasonal treats has been this Candy Corn Popcorn. I do like candy corn, but I was still surprised by how much I enjoyed this popcorn. It’s sweet, but not as sweet as what I thought it would be given that candy corn is extremely sugary. This popcorn is similar to caramel coated popcorn, but with more of a sweet cream vanilla flavor. It’s crunchy texture and sweet flavor combine to form a tasty snack!
Verdict: Perfect Fall sweet treat that I think most would enjoy!
5. Honey Dew Maple Chip Pancake Sandwich
If you read my blog, then you know I’m a huge Dunkin’ fan. However, I don’t discriminate against any coffee shops, so I go to Honey Dew a couple of times a month. I recently tried their latest breakfast sandwich, the Maple Chip Pancake Sandwich, and it was outstanding!! It’s really similar to a McGriddle, which is really one of the best breakfast sandwiches of all time in my fast food opinion! (Pro Tip: A coworker years ago advised me to order a McGriddle with a round egg instead of the folded egg that comes on it. The folded egg is too fat for the sandwich and makes it difficult to eat, but the round egg tastes just as good and is easier to eat!)
Back to the Honey Dew sandwich – the sweet maple flavored pancake mixed with the savory flavors of the sausage, egg and cheese make a delightful combination. I also found it to be less greasy than a McGriddle, which is always a plus because the greasier the food, the fatter I feel while eating it!😂 I almost took a picture of my sandwich and I should have because the photo posted is the only photo I can find of it online from Honey Dew’s Facebook page!
Verdict: So good! Get this limited time sandwich while you can!
6. Yoplait Oui French Style Maple Flavored Yogurt
I’m not sure if the maple flavor of this yogurt is just a seasonal offering or not. This was actually the first time that I’ve tried the french style yogurt, so I’m not well versed in their yogurt flavors. I’ve been curious about trying this style yogurt for a while, so I finally decided to try it when I saw that they had maple flavored out on store shelves!
Let me say that I am super impressed by this yogurt! It was so delicious! The yogurt consistency so smooth and creamy – and no stirring is required! The taste was flavorful and sweet, but not in an overpowering, artificial way that yogurts often have. This was a subtle maple flavor that only added to the overall taste of the yogurt. Also, the little glass jars that the french style yogurt comes in are so cute!!
Verdict: Highly recommend! This maple one was delicious and french style yogurt consistency was very enjoyable!
7. Trader Joe’s Fall Leaf Shaped Tortilla Chips
I mean, can you really go wrong with tortilla chips!? For the most part, no. And that’s the case with these darling little Fall shaped chips. The leaf shapes are adorable!! AND these are made with pumpkin, beets, and carrots! You can hardly even taste the vegetables in there, though! So really it’s just a festive party chip that is also healthier than your typical corn chip!
Verdict: These are no brainer! Pick them up and they will make any party dip look sooo fun and festive!🎃
That’s all for today’s food reviews! Have you tried any of these Fall themed foods? Let me know in the comments!
I hope everyone has a great day!💜
xo
Holly
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